FreeCycle.org

Besides being a damn good name, FreeCycle is the "brainchild" of Deron Beal, who started it as a listserv in the dry, hot town of Tucson, Arizona in May 2003. Now it is a full fledged online community (Freecycle.org) and newsgroup (Yahoo). It is a little like Craiglist with one key difference: everything must be offered for free. The idea is that there is too much stuff going into landfill and that connecting finished users with new users is an easy, positive solution to part of the problem.

Jim just told us that he recieved a message (everyone did, apparently) from the NYC Dept. of Sanitation recommending FreeCycle as an alternative for disposing of household items such as computers. Good for them.

In the past year, FreeCycle "has spread to more than 1,400 counties, cities and towns worldwide with nearly half a million members." In New York City there are 6,699 members as of five minutes ago, who have posted 443 "messages" in the last week alone. A message can either be something you are giving away or something you need. Items run the gamut, from the entire Simpson's collection on VHS to five Gmail invites (!) to a 1994 Plymouth Sundance. (Thanks, Jayme! - via Newsday) MGR